When I found out that Michael J. and Dr. Oz would be guests, I scheduled my time at the gym to overlap with the Oprah Show. I wanted to be at the gym because television in the afternoon never feels right to me.If I am using a treadmill, T.V. is secondary, so watching becomes acceptable.

I’m early in my diagnosis, so a dose of happy wouldn’t hurt. Oprah’s all about happy. Michael J. and Dr. Oz have their latex gloves on, and poke at a freshly excised brain like it was a grapefruit. They make poking at a freshly excised brain look fun. Oprah, as usual, is informative, kind, and caring and adds a level of gravitas to all the brain poking excitement. Somehow, information about Parkinson’s leaks out around the corners. Mostly, the message is that PD is not that bad if one is optimistic, famous and rich. Being friends with Oprah helps too, because, boy can she sell books! This is great, by the way, because Michael J funds a lot of research with those book sales.

Now for the real optimistic part. Dr. Oz went out on a limb and declared that a cure for Parkinson’s was “single digit years away”. This pronouncement was in 2010, so only eight more years, folks. Talk about a dose of happy!

In the meantime, just in case, I’m going to keep jogging on that treadmill and buying those books.

About Me

In November 2008, Michael Spokane was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at the age of 52. In November 2010, he began writing about his experience with the disease in an effort to help himself and others.
Michael is interested in receiving and responding to your comments and feedback. Please feel free to join in.
Michael lives in Southeastern Pennsylvania with his wife. He has two grown children. He had a career in general contracting and finish carpentry and specialized in historic restoration.